Future dioxin cleanups could mean less tree cutting

State Department of Environmental Quality officials hope to tackle riverbank clean-up efforts using new methods.

Al Taylor, a geology specialist with the DEQ, told about 50 people at the quarterly community dioxin meeting at Horizons Conference Center in Saginaw Township he planned to explore other options.

"We'd like to see some softer-footprint methodology," he said.

Taylor said some of the techniques crews used to remediate a dioxin "hot spot" on the Tittabawassee Rivers in the fall was too "intrusive" on the environment for his taste.

As part of its collaborative clean-up efforts with the DEQ last year, Midland's Dow Chemical Co. funded the removal of 300 mature trees from 1,700 feet of Midland County riverbank along the Tittabawassee.

Contractors were cleaning out a dioxin find that measured 84,000 parts per trillion. Michigan's residential contact limit for dioxin in soil is 90 parts per trillion. The state average is 7.

Crews planted trees in the bare place.

Taylor said he hasn't settled on a new approach but mentioned one option possible for future riverbank remediation.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has planted vegetation in strategic places to stabilize riverbanks and prevent them from eroding into the river, Taylor said.

Erosion is a problem along the Tittabawassee River, he said.

Taylor showed the crowd a PowerPoint presentation depicting the changing course of the river between 1937 and 2004. In some areas, he pointed out, the waterway had moved 50 feet east and west off its course from 60 years ago.

Such movement is dangerous because dioxin and other contaminants in the riverbank can spill into the water: "We don't want to dig something out (of the riverbed) and have eroding banks bring it back," he said.

Dow usually co-sponsors the quarterly meetings, but officials with the chemical giant said they would not participate this time because there wasn't enough new information to report since November's gathering.

The U.S. Environmental Agency planned to co-host the event instead, but poor road conditions prevented officials from the agency's Chicago office from making the trip.